Favorite Winter/Holiday beer of 2012...

So I enjoyed the responses I got to the "Thanksgiving Beer" thread I started. Learned a lot. Now I figure I better see what everybody is drinking this winter holiday season. I've had a few of my holiday standbys so far, including Jubilale, Pyramid Snow Cap for cheap, and Sleigher from Ninkasi. I'm in Oregon, so I mostly know Northwest beers.

My pick for beers so far this year is Terminal Gravity's Festivale. Smooth and tastefully flavored so as not to be overbearing. I finished the beer and had the "man that was good" moment. I went and looked at the ABV. I think it said 8.4%. Holy crap could I not taste the alcohol. Would have thought it 6% at most to taste it.

Terminal Gravity makes a good argument for being the best brewer in Oregon. Edit: This may be a bit of overstatement, but when I wrote it I was thinking of brewers who have 6 packs readily available.

So far I've had only PNW beers
-Jubelale is very good
-Sleigher is very nice, have it on tap locally
-Sleepy Hollow Nut Brown (Fall McMenamins) has been my favorite beer this fall, waiting for their Kris Kringle)
-Brrr has been a long time favorite of mine

Weird thing I find about Anchor outside California. Back in the old days, when seemed like Sierra Nevada and Anchor Steam were the only micro/craft brews a person could find, Anchor Steam was everywhere. Now, I can hardly find an Anchor beer in stores.

I second whoever said Chocolate Bock but this year I think I am going to stick with local breweries (In Colorado). I will have to get back to you after I have had a few more seasonals to let you know which ones pleased my palette most

I tried SouthernTier's new 2Xmas over the weekend, which ST market's as being brewed in the Swedish Glogg tradition. Meh, I really like Glogg, but this was a little too over-spiced, but otherwise underwhelming for me.

I've had the Velvet Merlin during the summer months. It is a year round release, right?

Edit: Hey all, feel free to post up any beers you enjoy this time of year. I don't mean to look like I'm insisting on special releases only. I just happen to drink porters and stouts year round, so I don't think of them as winter beers. Actually what I think of as winter/holiday beers are the reds that I find cloyingly sweet and way high in alcohol. I tend not to prefer them so I started this post to get some options.